As the Chicago Bears prepare for their Week 14 matchup in Green Bay, it’s becoming more and more clear that the team is preparing to clean house and start over with a new regime next season. On Sunday, CBS Sports insider Jason La Canfora wrote on the Bears situation and had a new report connecting them to a former player and a current college head coach.
La Canfora mentions a scenario in which former offensive lineman Trace Armstrong and current Ohio State head coach Ryan Day are hired by the team next season. Armstrong would assume a top management position and would bring in Day to be the head coach:
Accomplished coaching agent Trace Armstrong has discussed the possibility of taking a top management position with the Chicago Bears, according to league sources, as ownership mulls sweeping coaching and front office changes.
Armstrong, who played defensive end for the Bears from 1989-94 and has remained close to the franchise as a prominent alumnus, is a huge proponent of Ohio State coach Ryan Day, league sources said, and Day has been open to considering NFL possibilities in recent years. Armstrong also has strong connections throughout the scouting world and represents numerous current NFL executives. Raiders director or pro personnel Dwayne Joseph, a former teammate of his in Chicago, would also be a top candidate to join a restructured front office with the Bears should ownership opt to go in this direction, sources said.
Armstrong spoke to team officials last month, sources said, as many former players returned to Chicago to honor former longtime strength coach Clyde Emrich, a former Olympic wrestler who spent 50 years in the organization, after his passing. While leaving a successful agent practice would not be easy, numerous league sources said Armstrong’s pull to the Bears is unique and he is serious about the opportunity. Armstrong already has strong support among the media in Chicago — agents have crossed over into management roles in other sports; it’s not uncommon — and there has been an outcry among many in the fanbase about restructuring the organization with Phillips not atop the football operations pyramid.
Day, 42, has had a wildly successful run since taking over Ohio State after Urban Meyer departed, and he has been on the NFL’s radar. Armstrong deeply believes that Day, who spent time with the Eagles and 49ers as a quarterbacks coach from 2015-2016, could be a winning NFL coach. Last year the Bears moved up in the first round to select quarterback Justin Fields, who played for Day at Ohio State and whose development is absolutely paramount for a franchise that has not had an elite player at the position for generations.
A few things here…
Armstrong has come out and denied the report just two hours after it was put out. BUT he has nothing to lose denying the report and did we really think he’d come out and say “Yeah, this is true..” Probably not. Another thing is that Armstrong is Matt Nagy’s agent and also represents a dozen others including Day.
The current Ohio State coach, Day, likely won’t leave for the NFL just yet seeing the money that other coaches are getting. However, he does have the connection to Chicago with Justin Fields as their quarterback.
Even if this report isn’t true, I think it’s clear that the Bears are prepared to clean house this offseason.